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iPad First Impressions

So, yes, everything “they” say is true about the iPad: you really have to hold one in your hands to feel “the amazingness.” I had ordered a 16GB WiFi model from the Apple Store, but while the shipping date said “5 to 7 days” the estimated arrival date was more like three weeks. While running errands yesterday, I decided to stop by at Best Buy to see if they had anything. Nothing. Nothing except for a 64GB “open box” model the salesman discovered when he went to check on inventory. Hmmm. The top end model for only $629? Why not?

I had to confine myself only to gazing at the thing for the rest of the day while I was at work, since getting any kind of wireless connection on our campus is rather difficult and because I still had my iTunes library at home on our NAS. But once I got it home and synced some media onto and downloaded a few apps, it was time to try the thing out.

And here’s the truly surprising thing, the thing that makes the “amazingness” of this thing: my wife wants one. She doesn’t love technology the way I do. She knows she depends on it, but its functionings and possibilities do not fascinate her. But she immediately got the possibilities of holding a piece of glass in your hands and interacting immediately with UI elements on it.

The thing that really got her is GoodReader, an app so good it’s worth a post of its own. That’s coming tomorrow.